That is the debate of the century

But if you are going to be using PHP - then using *NIX. If you need ASP / .NET, use Windows. And then just build the server that you are going to need to handle the traffic.

You will find that a lot of people like *NIX, probably because of its costs while some do not like Windows, probably because of it costs.

Unix/Linux is better if you ask me.
You can do PHP/MySQL, run cron jobs, do chmod, etc...

I think basically it depends on what yo need. Between Windows 2003 and Unix there is no difference in terms of ease of use.Reliability closely matches so decisions on which to choose should not be solely based on reliability. There is also no difference in speed.

For more detail information please visit the link below :

http://www.upperhost.com/win_unix.htm

If your site is database driven, it is more important to consider which database to use before finding your servers. High-priced database like Oracle can fit into both servers, but free database like MySQL is running on Linux. Other thing to consider - applications/software available to run on your server.

Better explained in this blog;
http://blog.webhosting.uk.com/2006/0...ws-comparison/

IMO, it defeinatly is what tools work best for your project and keeping the gears running smoothly at all times. Personally, I've never run a massively huge database-driven websites with lodeous amounts of traffic, but from a developer's standpoint, I'd go with Linux. I don't wanna sound like I'm some sort of Linux promo robot (I really don't care enough about who "wins"), but the advantages of using a Linux server (for a developer) is that you don't have to pay the hosting company for the licenses they had to buy from Microsoft, so it's lighter on the wallet. Also, the PHP language is very powerful, well-documented and it's all free. Because there are so many developers using PHP, support and troubleshooting your code is more timely and slightly cheaper.

However, I should note that I'm insanely biased, I've never actually used a Microsoft server before, so I have no contrast. Also, I'm speaking purely from my own experience as a (poor) developer, not as a wemaster. There you have it... my 2¢. =)

I'm a PHP/MySQL fan so I say a LAMP server all the way ... Linux Apache MySQL PHP. That's what powers DaniWeb. However, it really all depends upon the backend technologies you plan on using. If you want to use ASP.NET or ColdFusion, go Windows. If you want to go PHP or JSP, go Linux.

depends on what you need